Improve service: telecom watchdog tells broadband operators

Friday, 06 October 2006, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Friday issued a number of regulations for broadband operators to improve the quality of service in the country, saying it was the final call for compliance. According to the regulator, with the increase in broadband connections in India - which has crossed 1.7 million in August - complaints pertaining to the quality of service have increased alarmingly. The complaints primarily include concern for fault repair, service provisioning, and network and billing related problems. "This is the final order for compliance by all the broadband service providers of the country," said TRAI chief Nripendra Misra. In cases where the broadband connection was not provided within 15 working days even after payment of installation charges and security deposit, a credit at the rate of 10 per day, subject to a maximum of installation charge or equivalent usage allowance, shall be given to the customer at the time of issue of the first bill. Also, customers, whose fault complaints remain pending for more than three days but less than seven working days, will be given a rebate equivalent to seven working days of minimum monthly charge or corresponding usage allowance. And for those whose complaints will be pending for more than seven business days and less than 15 working days, reimbursement of 15 days of minimum monthly charge or equivalent usage allowance will be made. Complaints taken on phone will also be monitored in terms of percentages of calls answered by the operator. Operators should be able to take 60 percent of calls within 60 seconds and 80 percent within 90 seconds. The TRAI has formulated these benchmarks based on public consultations and comments of stakeholders.
Source: IANS